The low point for the Giants

If you are a Giants fan you better HOPE this is the low point.

On July 28th, the Defending World Champions took 2 of 3 from the Phillies IN Philadelphia. They opened up a 4 game lead on the Diamondbacks, who were a nice story but let's face it, didn't have the legs to contend deep in the season.

The Giants added Carlos Beltran and the West was all but clinched.

Since then? The Giants have lost 10 of 13 games including 2 to the Pirates who couldn't beat a Tee Ball team in the last few weeks.

The Diamondbacks haven't exactly been world beaters. They have gone 7-5, right around the same winning pace that I would have expected.

But here we sit... in Mid August... and the Diamondbacks are in first place and the Giants are out of the playoff picture.

Indeed if the Playoffs Started Today... the Phillies and Diamondbacks would match up and the Brewers would have home field over the Braves.

In the promos for the Showtime series about the Giants, there is a clip of Brian Wilson on the golf course saying "Mark it down. Repeat."

Ironically if the playoffs started now, that's what the Giants would be doing... playing golf.

And the Diamondbacks don't have to do this for the long haul. They have 45 games left. A team get get hot in a 45 game spurt. When a team is in first place all by themselves with 45 left, then guess what? They are a legit contender.

Now if you have no dog in the fight, you might think that rooting for the Diamondbacks is the right thing to do. A low budget club with lots of young talent is what people should want in the post season.

But, as I said in one of the Sully Baseball videos, the Giants have a unique opportunity to become one of the true marquee franchises in baseball. A fun, more relaxed alternative to the rough and not so friendly Red Sox and Yankees domination. And it would be a shame to see them be a one year wonder.

The Giants have the day off and the Diamondbacks are playing the minor league team that plays in Houston. So in all probability, the Giants will start Friday's game in Florida a full game back.

Let's see what you are made of. Defend that title.

THAT'S showing some fight, Pirates

When I saw the Pirates were losing AGAIN today, I was all ready to take them to the woodshed. I was going to trash them for letting themselves get swept at home and allowing the naysayers to be right.

Then lo and behold, a comeback and a 10th inning rally later (along with the Brewers loss to the Giants) and they finished the weekend still tied for first place.

It wasn't the best start to the 20 game stretch to define the season... but the more days they spend in first, the better.

Now will someone explain to me why they pitched to Chase d'Arnaud instead of walking him, forcing the Pirates to bring in a pinch hitter and setting up a potential inning ending double play?

I'm not saying I'm smarter than Tony LaRussa... but the logic of that escaped me.

Well, you are still tied for first place Pirates.
Go to Atlanta. And don't want video from the 1991 nor 1992 NLCS.

The Pirates are in first place by themselves... read that sentence again

No ties.
No percentage points.
No "tied in the loss column."

The Pittsburgh Pirates are alone on top of the standings. And guess what? Day after tomorrow it is LATE JULY.

You know, the time when teams make deals to make themselves better for the stretch run?
Usually it is the time when other teams pick apart the dead carcass of the Pirates looking for spare parts.

This year?
They are in first place.

There must be a spare part or two they can acquire.
I'm not talking about Jose Reyes or Ubaldo Jimenez.

But a bat... a reliever...
Just to show their fans ONE YEAR they actually bring a big leaguer into Pittsburgh instead of shipping them out.

Come and savor it, Pirates fans.
Look at the standings.

The First Place Pittsburgh Pirates

Yup.
It's after the All Star Game and the Pirates are in first place... tied with St. Louis yet with fewer losses.

They are contenders. If the playoffs started today, they'd be in a one game playoff with St. Louis. Actually with the Reds come from behind win and Jeff Karstens shutout of Houston, the National League Central has become wonderfully bunched together. 4 teams are within 3 games of first place.

But this is the latest the Pirates have had even a share of first since July 17, 1997. But even that deserves a little asterisk next to it. They were in first place because the 1997 NL Central was so lousy. They had a .500 record in mid July 1997 and still were tied for the top spot.

So this is the best Pirates team since 1992...
First step is first. Change the culture and have a winning season.
If they go 34-37 the rest of the way, they'll finish above .500.

But for right now, take a gander Pirates fans.
It's late in the season... It's 57% over.

And here's what the standings look like.
Savor it.

Hey Adam Wainwright. Now would be a good time to WANT that Cy Young

At one point Adam Wainwright looked like the Cy Young Front Runner...

He was 17-6 with an ERA of 1.99 on August 11 and it looked like a 20 win season and a sub 2.00 ERA were in his future.

Then it looked like he decided to make a conscious effort to hand it over to Roy Halladay.
He had been 1-5 since and his ERA has jumped up .51 points.

Now of course he is still in the mix for the Cy Young and some of his losses were tough luck losses.

But a big win here would go a long way. A nice domination of the Padres would land him win #19 and make his ERA closer to 2.00 than 3.00. And the fans would love him for it...

Not the Cardinals fans... GIANTS fans.

Giant fans have images of a Division Title dancing in their heads and the Padres going on another skid would go a long way to making that true.

So come on! It is fun to be loved. Cardinals fans will love you forever if for no other reason than clinching the 2006 World Series.

You can have San Francisco fans love you too and you don't even need to change uniforms.

So come on, Adam. A Cy Young would look good on your mantle. Go for it tomorrow.

It's your move, Giants

In a very twisted way, I felt the Padres victory over the Rockies last night was the best thing to happen to the Giants.

Hear me out.

The Rockies were on fire on their 10 game winning streak and closing in on both the Giants and the Padres for the NL West.

Now of course if the Rockies had won, the Giants would be in first place by themselves going into tonight's game with Los Angeles.

I am less concerned with where the Giants are on September 14th than where they will be on October 3rd.

And I would rather have the Giants going toe to toe with a wobbly Padres team than a confident "remembering 2007 and 2009" Rockies team. Call me crazy.

I also want that last weekend between the Giants and Padres to be for all the tuna fish.
I don't want any scoreboard watching or have BOTH teams fall short.

So the Padres won last night.
The Giants are playing the Dodgers for the last 3 times of the season.

Focus on winning... and know there is also a series head to head with Colorado as well.

Worst case scenario if you win? You'll be a game out in the loss column.

Earn your money, Zito.

Giants passed a lot of tests

Well, both Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum passed their tests today with flying colors... and both former Cy Young winners gave their team the right to have visions of pennants dancing in their heads.

But man oh man did the Giants as a team show the NL West they are for real this weekend.

They were 2 back (3 in the loss column) when they showed up at Petco.
They leave tied (1 back in the loss.)

Remember when their starting pitching went AWOL?
Here's how they did this weekend.

Matt Cain - 8 innings. 8 ks. 1 walk. 5 hits. 3 earned runs.
Jonathan Sanchez - 5 innings. 4 Ks. 7 walks. 1 hit. 0 earned runs.
Madison Bumgarner - 7 innings. 4 Ks. 0 walks. 3 hits. 1 earned run.
Tim Lincecum - 7 innings. 9 Ks. 1 walk. 7 hits. 1 earned run.

That means the average start this weekend was...
6 2/3 innings. 6.25 ks. 2.25 walks. 4 hits. 1.25 runs.

And that run total includes a garbage time home run in the 9th that Cain let up to Ryan Ludwick.

The Padres are stumbling against any team not called the Dodgers and are about to face a freight train called the Rockies.

And the Giants are going to host the "dead from the neck up" Dodgers.

The Padres could be in third place by the time they leave Denver.

Keep this up Giants.
There are other tests coming up and none of them are written exams.

ROOM AT THE TOP

Now my dad has always told me that when you look at the standings, you don't first look at the Games Behind column. You look at the loss column. A team can make up wins, but they can't take away losses.

So often I'll try to cheer my dad up by saying "The Giants are 3 games back" and he would mumble "4 back in the loss column."

So I know my dad is scanning the standings like crazy and now his Giants sit on top of the NL West with the Padres.

Now granted, the Giants are still one back in the loss column... but admit it, dad. It looks sweet.
The Giants at the top.
Games behind... ZERO.

As for the Padres... think of this. On August 19th, less than a month ago, they had just finished winning 10 of 11 games and opened up a 6 game lead in the Division.

As recently as August 28th, they still had a 6 game lead.

They are 6-14 since then. 5 of those 6 wins were against the sleep walking Dodgers and the terrible Diamondbacks.

With the Rockies winning streak continuing, there is a possibility that the Padres could fall all the way to third place in the Division.

The Rockies are only 3 back in the loss column.

Either way, tomorrow morning I want my many Giant fan friends to gaze at the standings. You guys haven't been in first place this late since 2003.

Savor it... and don't let that loss column bother you.

37 game season for the AL East title

125 games into the season and the Rays and Yankees are dead even.
They are both the best team in baseball, although if they finished tied it looks as if Tampa Bay would win the AL East based on their head to head record.

Now if I told you there would be two teams tied for the best record in baseball... and one of them had lost their biggest slugger to injuries, their veteran World Champion left handed starter was on the DL, their captain was day to day and they seemed to be starting the 15th caller from WFAN 2 out of every 3 starts.

And the other team seemed to have a never ending supplies of phenoms coming out of their farm system and their former #1 pick over all (no not the pitcher who was #1 over all but the outfielder) was finally hitting....

Wouldn't you think the second team has the better chance to win one more game than the first?

It's no longer about payroll. It's about who will do better over 37 games.

Now if the Red Sox start SWEEPING series, they might be in this equation as well... but for now, the two best teams in baseball have 37 games to determine who will start the post season at home.

CINCINNATI FANS… THE REDS' MAGIC NUMBER IS 125

That’s right… we are in Mid May and the Reds have passed the Cardinals. The Cincinnati Reds are in first! I don’t want people to be blasé about this along the banks of the Ohio River.

One of the great baseball cities of all time has a team in first place… and they got there with some complete games, some clutch hitting and some home grown players with kick ass names like Joey Botto, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake.

I picked the Reds to win the pennant last year and while I was WAY off, I didn’t pick that team out of a hat. I felt their young talent could blossom into an exciting young team that Reds fans can call their own.

That could be what is happening now.

I am not expecting every game at Great American Ballpark to be standing room only… but you fans aren’t Rays fans, a fan base that is being treated to one of the most exciting young teams the game has seen in years who could possibly outplay the Yankees and Red Sox for the second time in three years… and can’t fill half their stadium.

The Rays play in a crappy ballpark that is hard to get to and the fan base has no tradition in baseball.

The Reds are just the opposite. They have a great park that is easy to get to and one of the richest traditions in all of baseball. Don’t believe me? Read up!

Time to put some fannys in the seats. School will be out soon and the kids in Ohio and Northern Kentucky are going to be treated to a team that is in contention. By midseason they might even be inserting Aroldis Chapman into their rotation to give them an even bigger boost.

You hear how New York, Boston and St. Louis fans are the most passionate about baseball. Time to punch your entry into the discussion Reds fans.

I know the 2000s were rough for the Reds as they were part of the “less than magnificent seven” teams that went from 2000 to 2009 without a playoff appearance.

I know young fans might be apathetic.

No excuse now… you’ve got a contender on your hands. And any combination of Reds wins and Cardinals losses that equal 125 will send the Reds back to the playoffs.

It’s never too early to count down!

Ladies and Gentlemen... your first place Oakland A's (Not seen on TV)

You wouldn't know it flipping around on TV in the Bay Area, but the A's are in first place.
They just beat the Rangers 4-1 and are going into May on a high note.

The A's Magic Number is 134.

And they did it in front of friends and family.

The fans who were at the game are the first on the A's bandwagon.

If a team goes into first place and nobody sees it, does it count?

The Oakland A's are playing a day game this afternoon...

If they win the game against the Texas Rangers they will move into first place all by themselves.

I know it is early in the season, but who knows? This could be one of the highlights of the 2010 Oakland A's season... and there is reason to have some hope.

So OF COURSE it isn't on TV in the Bay Area!

Do you know what Comcast Sports Bay Area is playing now?
Sport Science: The Ultimate Sucker Punch.

I am sure it is a cool special, but it was taped a year ago.

Meanwhile the Texas broadcast is showing the game... and the A's have taken an early 2-0 lead.

The A's could be on TVs in restaurants or at home where some kids are playing hooky.

But nope. A beautiful spring day game can only be seen in Texas.

Actually take a look at this screen grab from MLB.com.














The controller lists 4 radio broadcasts (English and Spanish for both Texas and Oakland) but only the Texas TV broadcast.

The game is probably blacked out in the Bay Area... which means literally the ONLY place on the planet Earth where you can't watch the game even on the computer is in the Oakland area.

Hmm... why can't the team build a fan base?

I wrote about this before, but this is pure insanity.
Everyone has a few hundred channels on their cable system. Showing the local team on one of them live isn't too much to ask for.

Fish

The Florida Marlins are tied for first place.

Did you know that?

How odd is the NL East?

The Phillies, the defending World Champs, have been in first place most of the year and are currently tied for first with the aforementioned Marlins.

The Braves are two games under .500 and yet are only 2 games out.

The Mets are a disgraceful mess at even .500, and only a game out of first.

Let's play out a scenario that is within the realm of possibility:

Let's say the Mets win 2 of 3 from the Phillies.
Let's say the Pirates beat the Marlins 2 of 3.
Let's say the Braves sweep the lowly Nationals.

If that happens then the Mets, Braves, Marlins and Phillies would all be one game over .500 and all tied for first place.

That's worth rooting for.
That's potential anarchy.